Hague’s sister confirmed the fighter’s death in a post on her Facebook page:

“It is with incredible sadness, sorrow and heartbreak to report that Tim has passed away today,” Jackie Neil wrote. “He was surrounded by family, listening to his favourite songs. We will miss him with so greatly.”

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Hague, a five-fight UFC veteran, had been in critical condition in a Canadian hospital after his knockout loss to former Edmonton Eskimos football player Adam Braidwood at Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Although Hague had 34 pro MMA fights, his bout with Braidwood was a boxing match for the KO Boxing promotion.

Tim Hague

Braidwood knocked down Hague several times in the fight, video footage of the fight shows. In the second round, he knocked Hague down for good after a right hand and a short left. Hague remained out on the canvas for several minutes before eventually leaving the ring while Braidwood was being interviewed.

But Hague was transported to the hospital when it became evident something wasn’t right following the knockout, according to reports from teammates.

Hague, a teacher in Canada, started his MMA career in 2006 and won 10 of his first 11 fights, including his UFC debut – a first-round submission of Pat Barry at UFC 98 in Las Vegas. It was his only win in the promotion.

In his next three fights, he suffered a seven-second knockout loss to Todd Duffee at UFC 102, a majority-decision defeat to Chris Tuchscherer at UFC 109, and a unanimous-decision loss to Joey Beltran at UFC 113. After the loss to Tuchscherer, the UFC released him, but Hague made a quick return on short notice to fight Beltran. But after that loss, with a 10-4 record overall and 1-3 in the promotion, he was let go again.

He rebounded in 2010 with knockout wins in Edmonton over Zak Jensen and Travis Wiuff, and those were enough to get him invited back to the UFC. But at the UFC’s second “Fight for the Troops” show in January 2011, UFC Fight Night 23, Matt Mitrione stopped him via first-round TKO.

After that, with a 1-4 UFC record, Hague remained active in MMA, which included fights for KOTC, as well as WSOF, in Canada. But in the past two years, he was just 1-4, and all four losses have came by knockout. His lone win was for Canada’s XFFC promotion in April 2016, when he beat UFC veteran Kalib Starnes to win the promotion’s heavyweight title.

Throughout his career, though, when Hague won fights, he was a finisher. He had 19 of his 21 wins by stoppage, including 15 knockouts, and had not gone to a decision in one of his victories since 2008.

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